The outgoing Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has officially been appointed as the next Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). He will take on his role from 1 October, NATO announced.
The North Atlantic Council decided to appoint Rutte as the next Secretary-General of NATO, the organisation confirmed on Wednesday. He will succeed the current leader of the Western military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.
"The ambassadors of the 32 NATO countries officially decided on the appointment on Wednesday," the organisation said in a statement. Rutte will become the fourth Dutch leader of NATO.
"Rutte will assume his functions as Secretary General from 1 October 2024, when Stoltenberg's term expires after ten years at the helm of the Alliance."
I warmly welcome #NATO Allies' choice of @MinPres Mark Rutte as my successor. Mark is a true transatlanticist, a strong leader and a consensus-builder. I wish him every success as we continue to strengthen NATO. I know I am leaving NATO in good hands.https://t.co/D0ass7fKiL
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) June 26, 2024
It already became clear last week that Rutte would be taking on the role as Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, withdrew from the race to become NATO Secretary-General, paving the way for the outgoing Dutch Prime Minister. He expressed that Rutte has the support of Romania, in addition to other NATO countries.
Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, initially said he would object to Rutte becoming Secretary-General, but he reverted his objection.
